Black Caps vs India: Glenn Phillips relishing duel with 'incredible' Suryakumar Yadav

Second T20 international: Black Caps v India. Where: Bay Oval, Tauranga. When: Sunday, November 20, 7.30pm. Coverage: Live on Spark Sport, live updates on Stuff

Glenn Phillips might be amongst the world’s top Twenty20 international batters but he still marvels at India’s Suryakumar Yadav, the current No 1.

“He’s absolutely incredible. The things that he does I wouldn’t even dream of doing. I would love to try but we have very different games. The wrist strength that he’s got to be able to hit balls for six in extremely awkward areas is a talent you rarely see,” Phillips said, ahead of Sunday’s game two of the T20 series in Tauranga.

“I’ve got my strengths and he’s got his and we go about our jobs in different ways. And the way we both play presents opportunities for the opposition to get us out as well. It’s part of the risk and reward of middle order cricket in T20.”

Phillips and Yadav will be the prized wickets for the respective bowling attacks, should the Bay of Plenty weather clear for the three-match series to get under way after Friday’s Wellington washout. Showers are forecast for Sunday evening, meaning anxious glances to the skies at Bay Oval which was declared a sellout by New Zealand Cricket on Friday.

Yadav is the world’s top-ranked T20I batter and leading runscorer in 2022, with 1040 at an average of 43 and mind-boggling strike rate of 186. Phillips is ranked eighth, also his place on the year’s runscoring list with 650 at 46 and a strike rate of 155.

Of the top-10 T20I runscorers this year the pair have the best strike rates. Same at the just-completed T20 World Cup where Yadav (239 runs, SR 190) and Phillips (201 runs, SR 158) were also the fastest scorers of the top-10 as their respective sides bowed out in the semifinals.

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images Suryakumar Yadav of India gets inventive against Zimbabwe at the T20 World Cup.

Phillips predicts fireworks if the rain clears at Bay Oval, before game three at Napier’s high-scoring McLean Park on Tuesday where fine weather and 29C is forecast.

“I could easily see [Yadav’s] strike rate being even higher here than it was in Aussie, with the slightly smaller grounds and the pitches very similar, potentially a bit bouncier with a bit more grass on them. It’s going to be very interesting what sort of strike rates we see here.”

Bay Oval brings back fond memories for Phillips who, two years ago smashed a Black Caps T20I record 46-ball century against West Indies. Phillips’ 108 off 51 balls saw him and Devon Conway plunder 184 for the third wicket in a total of 238-3.

NZC Tom Blundell scores century for Wellington before falling to five-wicket hero Liam Dudding.

“The partnership we had, 180-something, was almost for me bigger than the hundred itself,” Phillips said. “That was a really cool moment, coming back into the side after being out for a while really solidified to me that I can play at this level and that I was ready to come back.”

Phillips’ matchwinning 104 off 64 balls against Sri Lanka in Sydney was his second T20I century batting at No 4 as he ended the tournament the pick of the New Zealand batsmen.

He’s loathe to be singled out as the side’s matchwinner, saying anyone in the top-six on their day could bring the Black Caps home.

Mark Kolbe/Getty Images Glenn Phillips of New Zealand celebrates his century against Sri Lanka.

A clinical, process-driven mindset is behind his form this year, which he credits in part to archery which he took up as a hobby before he cracked the New Zealand team. At one stage, Phillips says, he was shooting arrows between 6-8 hours a day during winter two years ago.

“I really loved the fact that there were always different challenges to work on. You change one thing and you come back the next day and there’s something completely different, which is very similar to cricket.

“You’re not going to feel the same each day which brings it back to keeping things consistent every single day regardless of how you’re feeling, runs, wickets, how many arrows you shoot or where I shoot them.

“What are the things that I can control and try and make myself happy from? That’s also brought the love of the game back a lot more compared to where I was the same time last year when we went to India. That whole process-driven side has brought more of a love for the game back.”

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